Gide, humans. Welcome to uncomfortable conversation, the safe space for dangerous ideas.

Let me ask you a simple question. Have you ever sat your big fat ass in a pool of hot mud?

It's a simple question because it's how I've spent the day and I figure a few of you

must have, surely, statistically, given the hundreds of billions of listeners that we have to this

fine program, some of you must have spent the day like me, sitting your big fat ass in a giant

bubbling pool of mud.

I happen to be in Rotorua in New Zealand, Aotearoa, Kiora.

That means hello.

And this is one of the hotbeds of volcanic activity and geothermal and seismic, something or other.

And so we've brought the kids here for a summer holiday to look at the guises, unparalleled,

anywhere else in the world, except for Iceland and Yellowstone National Park in those fine

United States of America.

And while we're here, middle of summer, it's a freezing cold and pouring

with rain. They do call New Zealand the land of the long white cloud. And let me tell you

something, that long white cloud is looking pretty gray at the moment, ladies and gentlemen,

I'll be here all week. Try the veal. So anywho, this is one of those episodes that we've gathered

together. My wonderful podcast producer, Stefan, has done all the legwork here, isolating some of

the best conversations that I've had with some of the most interesting people throughout the

past 12 months. This is the third and final installment of the very best of

uncomfortable conversations from the past year. After this, there'll be a lousy little episode,

a lousy little good for nothing episode with a nobody by the name of Sam Harris. So you can look

forward to that next week.

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